Shock absorber valve



NOV- 4, 1952 R. H. wHlsLER, JR., r-:TAL 2,616,711

' sHocx ABsoRBER VALVE Filed Dec. 17, 1949 Patented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOCK ABSORBER VALVE Ralph H. Whisler, Jr., and Dale A. Palmer, Monroe, Mich., assignors to Patent Development Company, Monroe, Mich., a partnership Application December 17, 1949, Serial No. 133,521

4 Claims. (-Cl. 277--45) This invention relates to shock absorbers, and more particularly to a novel base-compression valve assembly for controlling the 'flow of fluid between the pressure tube and reserve chamber of a hydraulic, direct-acting shock absorber.

It is an object of this invention to provide a base-compression valve assembly in a shock absorber which will reduce shock absorber cavitation.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a base-compression valve assembly in a shock absorber in which no substantial shock absorber control losses will occur after the shock absorber has been used for a considerable length of time.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a compression base valve. assembly incorporating a static control valve which will prevent the fluid in the pressure' tubeand reserve chamber from seeking equal levels Vand thereby causing air to be present in the pressure tube when a device or vehicle to which `a shock absorber is attached stands idle for a :considerable period of time, and which may be used to meter the flow of uid through an orificev to improve the operating characteristics of the shock absorber.

It is a still further object of this linvention to provide a base-compression valve in a shock ab- "sorber' which is extremely durable, eflicient in operation and simple in construction.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which: l

Figure l is a longitudinal sectionalview of the shock absorber of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the base-compression valverassembly of the shock absorber illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 taken along the line 3 3 thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the shock absorber includes, in a conventional manner, a pressure tube 5, reserve tube 1, reserve tube bottom and top closures 9 and II respectively. A piston assembly I3 is slidably mounted in the pressure tube and has a piston rod I5 connected therewith and. extending through a closure and seal assembly I9, in the upper end of the pressure tube andthe reserve tube closure I l. A dust shield and-tube assembly the recess 43.

2 2| is connected with the rod I5, in a conventional manner. The piston assembly I3 includes a body 23 having an outer set of circumferentially spaced passageways 25 and an inner set of circumferentially spaced passageways 21. The flow of iluid through the passageways 25 from thelower portion of the pressure cylinder to the upper portion thereof is controlled by means of `a springloaded disk 29, while the ilow of iluid through passageways 21 from the upper portion to the lower portion of the pressure cylinder;v is controlled by means of a laminated disk valve 3| loaded by means of spring 33 and a nut 35 which secures the piston assembly to the piston rod I5.

The bottom end` of the pressure tube 5 is closed v by means of a base-compression valve assembly 31, which includesv a valve body 39, which is connected to the pressure tube 5 and engages the reserve tube bottom closure 9. 'I'he body 39 is provided with suitable recesses, openings or notches (not shown), which communicate the reserve chamber 1 with the under side of the valve body 39.

The body 39 is provided with a relatively large, vertically extending aperture 4I therethrough, which terminates at its upper end in a recess 43 provided in the top portion of the body 39. A land or valve seat 45 is provided around the aperture or opening 4I adjacent the bottom of A valve member 41 rests upon the circumferential land 45 and is resiliently held in `engagement with the valve seat by means of a spoke-type iiat spring 49. The inner ends of the spokes of the spring 49 engage the valvegmember 41, while the outer periphery of the spring 49 .is disposed beneath a circumferential shoulder or rim 59, at the upper end of the valve body recess 43. The spring 49 acts to maintain the `lvalve member 41 its proper centered relation- .ship with respect to the valve seat and resiliently maintains the valve member on the valve seat so as to normallyprevent the flow of fluid from the reserve chamber to the pressure cylinder at the upper end of the valve member bore 5l. The bore 5I is of a larger diameter than the outside diameter of the pin 53, so as to provide a space or orice to permit the ilow of fluid therebetween. A valve element 55 is sleeved on the lower portion of the pin 53 and has a valve seat 5'! on the upper face thereof, which is adapted to engage the under side of the valve member'A-I, for a reason which will'hereinafter appear. The valve element 55 is resiliently held in engagement with the underside of the valve member 4I by a coil spring 59, the upper end of which :engages the valve element 55 and the lower end of which engages a washer-like member 6l,- -which is secured to the lower end of the ,pin 53, in any suitable manner. The inside d-iameter of the valve element 55 is larger than the outside .diameter of the adjacent pin portion, so as to provide a space or orifice which will permit the ow of uid from the pressure cylinder to the reserve chamber. The pin 53 is provided with a kdownwardly extending passageway 65 and'with .a horizontal slot 61 which communicates with the passageway 65 intermediate the ends thereof. `'Ihe upper portion of the valve element 55 is recessed at 59 adjacent to the pin slot 61 so that iiuid `from the pressure cylinder can ow through the pin passageway 65 and slot 61 into the recess 69 in the valve element 55. VWhen sufficient pressure has been built up in the pressure cylinder, during downward movement of the piston assembly I3, the valve element will be moved away from the bottom of the valve member 41, against the action of the coil spring 59, so as to permit the uid'to flow from the pressure cylinder to the reserve chamber. In this Way control of the compression stroke of the shock absorber is obtained. It should be noted that the valve body passageway 4l is of a relatively large diameter and therefore cavitation in the shock absorber is reduced, as compared with conventional compression valves where the area of the opening is relatively small. Furthermore, control losses in this shock absorber are practically negligible because of the use of a coil spring in both the compression valve assembly and piston valve assembly, thereby increasing the life and efliciency of the shock absorber.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, the compression valve assembly is substantially the same as that illustrated and described, with the exception that a static control valve is provided. Therefore, like parts of this embodiment will be indicated by primed numbers corresponding to vlike parts of the previous embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. e, a disk valve 15, either laminated or a single disk, engages the bottom face of the valve element 55', within the coil spring 59'. The laminated disk valve 15 is resiliently held in engagement with the bottom face of the valve element 55' by means of a relatively light coil spring il, the upper end of which engages the bottom face of the laminated disk valve and the lower end of which is supported on the Washer-like member B l The disk valve T5 normally closes the orifice, or space, between the outside diameter of the pin 53' and the inside diameter of the valve member 4I' and valve element 55, against the flow of uid from the pressure cylinder to the reserve chamber. Ihe spring 11, however, is relatively light and is designed primarily to close the orifice only when the pressure of the uid in the pressure cylinder is substantially atmospheric. The resistance of the spring 11 may, however, be increased, Aif desired, so that substantially more than atmospheric pressure is required to move disk 'l5 orf of its seat. In this event, the spring does meter the orice so as to reduce harshness on the compression strcke at relatively low piston velocities and fluid pressure. In either event, when the piston assembly I3 moves downwardly in the pressure cylinder, the .disk valve 1.5Will move off of its lvalve seat to permit aflow of iiuid through the orifice. The disk valve 15, therefore, acts as a static control valve and keeps the oil in the pressure tube and reserve tube from seeking an equal level, which would cause air in the pressure tube which would Amake the shock absorber noisy incineration-and may be used to meter the orice. It will be apparent that when the shock absorber, or a vehicle or other device on which one is mounted, stands idle for a long period of time, there is a natural tendency for the oil in the pressure and the reserve tubes to seek an equal level, thus .causing an Vair pocket in the `pressure vand emcient in use, and will reduce shock absoriber .cavitation, increase the life .of the `shock absorber and eliminate shock absorber noise, in a manner not heretofore possible.

What is Aclaimed is:

l. A compression valve asernbly for controlling the oiv .of fluid 'between a pressure cylinder and a reserve chamber of a shock absorber, including a valve body having a passageway therethrough, a valve seat adjacent .said passageway, a valve member for controlling .the flow of fluid through said passageway 4in one direction, means for resiliently retaining said valve member in engagement with said valve body seat, means tor controlling the ow of fluid through said valve assembly in the opposite direction, including a passageway through said valve member, a valve seat adjacent said valve member passageway, a valve element for controlling the flow of fluid through said valve lmember passageway, means for resiliently retaining said valve .element in ,engagement with said valve member seat, means providing an orice `through said valve member and valve element, means providing a valve seat on said valve element adjacent one end of said orice, resilient valvey means normally engaging said last valve seat for .controlling the flow of fluid through said orice and preventing the flow of uid through said orifice at least at substantially atmospheric .pressures and permitting the ow of uid therethrough at predeterminately higher pressures.

2. A compression valve assembly for controlling the flow of i'iuid between the pressure cylinder and reserve chamber of a shock absorber, including a valve body having a passageway therethrough, a valve seat adjacent said passageway, a valve member for controlling the flow of uid through said passageway in one direction, means resiliently maintaining said valve member on said valve seat, means for controlling the flow of iiuid through said valve assembly in the opposite direction, including a pin-like ,member supported by and having a portion extending through said valve member, said pin-like member having passageway means therein adapted to communicate with the pressure cylinder of the shock absorber and with said valve body passageway on the opposite side of said valve member, a valve element sleeved on said pin-like member portion and adapted to engage a surface of said valve member so as to control the flow of fiuid through said pin-like member passageway means to said valve body passageway,'1neans resiliently retaining said valve element in seating engagement with said valve member, means providing an orifice through said valve member and valve element, a valve seat on said valve element adjacent said orifice, and valve means engaging said valve seat and normally preventing the flow of fiuid through said orifice, said valve means being adapted to be moved relative to said valve element seat by a relatively light fluid pressure so as to permit uid to flow through said orifice.

3. A compression valve assembly for controlling the fiow of fluid between the pressure cylinlder and reserve chamber of a shock absorber,

including passageway means, a valve member for controlling the fiow of fluid through said passageway means in one direction, second pasageway means in said valve assembly, a valve element for controllng the fiow of fluid through said second passageway means in the opposite direction, and adapted to be actuated by a predetermined fiuid pressure to permit a flow of fluid through said second passageway means, means providing an orifice through said valve assembly through which fluid may flow independently of said first and second passageway means, valve means for controlling the fiow of fluid through said orifice means in one direction, to prevent the fiow of fiuid through said orifice means atk least at substantially atmospheric pressures, and permit the fiow of fiuid therethrough at predeterminately higher pressures.

4. A compression valve assembly for controlling the ow of fiuid between a pressure cylinder and a reserve chamber of a shock absorber, including a valve body having a central passageway therethrough, a valve seat surrounding said passageway, a valve member for controlling the fiow of fiuid through said passageway in one direction, a spring element connected with said valve body and with said valve member for resiliently retaining said valve member on said pin-like member passageway means, the inside diameter of said valve element being greater than the outside diameter of said pin-like member so as to provide an orifice between said valve l Velement and pin member, whereby an orifice is provided through said valve member and Valve element, a washer-like element connected with said pin-like member adjacent the free end fthereof, a coil spring disposed between said washer-like element and'said valve element so v as'to resiliently retain said valve element in seating engagement with said valve member to control the flow of fluid through said pin-like memwberf passageway and into said valve body passageway, a valve seat on said valve element and adjacent to said orifice, a disk-type valve engaging said valve element seat for controlling the fiow of fluid through said orifice in one direction, and a coil spring disposed between said washer-like element and said laminated disk valve element for resiliently retaining said disk valve element on said valve element seat, said second coil spring being relatively light as compared with said first coil spring.

RALPH H. WHISLER, JR. DALE A. PALMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 148831395 Funston Oct. 25, 1932 1,884,262 Rossman Oct. 25, 1932 1,991,043 Bates Feb. l2, 1935 2,159,289 Nickelsen May 23, 1939 2,428,451 Emerson Oct. 7, 1947 

